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Lived in North Florida all my life. I have been to all the parks many times. Back in November my wife and I took our daughter to Magic Kingdom (for the kids), Animal Kingdom (great if you like animals) and MGM. We dropped $1,000. They are VERY overpriced. I paid $6,000 to go to Hawaii.
blah, blah, blah...nice backpedal...
You should be ok, but some of the rides aren't for little kids - like Mission Space.
One at a time.
No. Check the weather reports - the weather channel down there has a special bulletin just for Disney World, and the Disney info channels have their own weather reports.
They are allowed - they will be searched upon entering all the parks. You can have snacks and water. All bags are checked - backpacks to purses.
They don't check your tickets once you're in the park. You slide your ticket through a biometric scanner at the front gate, and then everything inside is for you to play with - with a few restrictions like special tours, the Segway tours, and the concerts at the ampitheatre in the American pavilion.
Speaking of which, I was really thrown by how people totally avoid this ride now. Jeez, just because 2 people died in the last year. The wait was never more than 30 minutes for the "intense" ride and no wait at all for the "less intense" ride.I was actually glad they put in the lesser version. We did the full deal a couple years ago and while I thought it was awesome, my kids are prone to motion sickness. The one who was big enough for the ride two years ago decided against orange team this time out. My little guy LOVED the ride and insisted we go back enough times for him to be each type of crew member.
I don't think it's a ride for young kids period. Between the force, the close quarters and the visuals while it's going on, there is a lot for a young brain to deal with. I don't sick on stuff like that, ever, but walking out of the ride even I stumbled slightly to get my bearings set again.Speaking of which, I was really thrown by how people totally avoid this ride now. Jeez, just because 2 people died in the last year. The wait was never more than 30 minutes for the "intense" ride and no wait at all for the "less intense" ride.I was actually glad they put in the lesser version. We did the full deal a couple years ago and while I thought it was awesome, my kids are prone to motion sickness. The one who was big enough for the ride two years ago decided against orange team this time out. My little guy LOVED the ride and insisted we go back enough times for him to be each type of crew member.
Like I have said - my main advice is that if you know you are going to go again, don't try to get everything done in one trip. It turns into a job more then a vacation.
Pretty good advice. Been reading a lot from the links given here and checked out a couple of books from the library. The Itenary's some of them talk about are just
One recommended telling your kids that there are designated times for meeting characters and if they see one walking down the street don't run to them as we will see them later. 
I'm adult I can live with it.
If the characters are something you want to do, one thing we noticed this last trip was that those lines are almost nonexistent in the mornings. Granted, this is also when the lines at the most popular rides are shortest also. What we found that worked out well was my wife would stay with the kids in the character sections and I'd go get a fastpass to whatever was the most popular ride that we wanted to do at that particular park. One thing to note about the Fastpass is that it is not necessary to be at that ride on the scheduled time frame that is printed on the FP ticket. I read this prior to our last trip and I also asked guest services upon arrival at each park. They all said the same thing... that the fastpass doesn't expire until the close of the park that day no matter what timeframe is printed on the FP ticket. However, at EPCOT, and only EPCOT, I did get some heat from the Maelstorm crew for trying to use a fastpass at 4:00pm that had a range of 2:00 to 3:00pm printed on it.Pretty good advice. Been reading a lot from the links given here and checked out a couple of books from the library. The Itenary's some of them talk about are just
News flash... If you are taking kids to Disney World, It is for thier enjoyment.. NOT yours
No, don't plan on going enough to make it worth my while.Have read others that go there often though that love it.78 days and counting until we head to Disney World.
Thanks for the report.We are going December 9th-14. Christmas time down there is suppose to be spectacular and we are going right before the main rush starts.
It will be fun. We went right before Thanksgiving last year and they had a bunch of stuff, if not everything, already set up for xmas.Check out the city area of MGM. It is an amazing display of christmas lights down the entire block.
We are going there our first full day down there(Sunday the 10th). We have Reservations for dinner and Fantasmic which should get us off to a great start. 
You're going to have a lot of fun Snogger. The parks should have their Christmas decorations out. I love the Disney parks in Orlando around Christmas...3 More sleeps and we will be on our way!!Leaving 20's and clouds to go to 72-78 highs with sunshine..
You mean December till about late February. I lived in Florida my whole life till I moved to SoCal...March to November is pretty brutal.
I just can't wait to start takingYou're going to have a lot of fun Snogger. The parks should have their Christmas decorations out. I love the Disney parks in Orlando around Christmas...3 More sleeps and we will be on our way!!Leaving 20's and clouds to go to 72-78 highs with sunshine..
I now have two 512MB cards that with my 4Mp camera will hold about 240 Pics each and have a 256MB card as a backup.
working on the pics. Have some of the first ones uploaded .. See sigas for the trip..We had a great time. 75-80 each day, only one day did it shower for about 30 minutes and that was it. We stayed at Wilderness Lodge and I will never stay any where else. It was so nice to leave the parks, get back to the lodge and feel like you weren't anywhere near Disney World.Longest wait we ever had the whole trip was for character signing which sometimes lasted 30 minutes in line. The longest ride line was 20 minutes for the Jungle Cruise.Wife & I both thought MGM was the best park of all(We didn't have time for Epcot). We were at MGM from 9am to 8pm and still didn't get to Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Rock & Roll Coaster or The Muppets in 3D. Easily could have spent another day there to see everything. The trip was about the daughter so spent a lot of time in lines getting character signatures andHow about a trip update and some
. Saw Fantasmic and it is definitely worth your time, great show. Osbourne Christmas lights were going on and they were great also.We tried our best not to run ourselves ragged but you couldn't help it at times. They have the shows all scheduled so closely together you tend to run from one to other. An example was Animal Kingdom.. Saw Nemo, then headed over to Lion King, then Pochantas before going to the safari. Last day there was our 2nd day at Magic Kingdom. Worked our way to frontierland where Splash Mountain and the Roller Coaster is. Daughter had never been on any roller coaster larger than a kiddie one but thought Splash Mountain looked like fun. I took her over and as we worked our way to the front of the line I kept asking her if she was sure. We came to the last exit and I told her, no turning back now. She just said "OK, just make sure you hang onto me".She LOVED it! She laughed at the end and said "That wasn't so bad, can we go on the railroad coaster now?" 
That one was a little rougher for her as that thing gets going pretty fast. At the end I asked her how she liked it and she said "Well, except when I felt like my stomach was going to fly out of me it was great" 
It was definitely worth the money we spent. We are already talking about going back again in about 4 or 5 years. I think the final count was 420+ (a lot of double and triple takes) as well as 2 hours of video.The only thing I can say is please, PLEASE don't bring toddlers(under 4) there. Every parent I saw with a stroller looked wiped by noon and most of the kids were either sleeping or crying or asking to go back to the pool at the hotel.
I love the Wilderness Lodge but you are missing out if you don't try some of the other resorts. All of them have something unique and each has their own advantages. The Polynesian is our favorite -- love the atmosphere and it is the most convenient going to the parks.
Wow, you missed A LOT at MGM. ToT, R&R coaster and Muppets are three of the best attractions at MGM. Of course if you are going with little kids ToT and R&R might be too intense.Wife & I both thought MGM was the best park of all(We didn't have time for Epcot). We were at MGM from 9am to 8pm and still didn't get to Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Rock & Roll Coaster or The Muppets in 3D. Easily could have spent another day there to see everything. The trip was about the daughter so spent a lot of time in lines getting character signatures and
You can take little ones as long as you don't try to do too much and you go back to the hotel for a break. It is definitely better when your kids are 9+.
I second that if you are travelling with kids!!!! The meal plan comes out to $35/day for adults and $10/day for kids 9 & under. For each person, you get 1 snack credit, 1 counter service credit, and 1 sit down meal credit per day. They say that the kids credits must be used for kids meals, but the have no way of verifying it. If you know how to use the credits properly, you can feed the family 3 meals/day with almost no out of pocket money. We have 3 kids and would use 2-3 credits in the morning for breakfast and pay a couple of $$ for extra drinks. A single breakfast platter was usually enough to feed my 2-yr old and 6 yr-old. We would also use 2-4 counter credits for lunch. The counter credits include drink, main course, side dish, and dessert. Again, 1 meal would feed my two younger kids. If you have lunch at one of the inexpensive restaurants, simply pay cash. We ate 1 lunch at the McDonald's at Animla Kingdom. The prices were comparable to a regular McD's, so it made sense to pay cash.
We joined last month as well, 250 pts. I am 47 but my kids are 21, 20 and 18. The wife and I figure we can use it for a few years and then our kids can use it with their kids.
We even bought 3 Adult Counter Service meals at the sametime and didn't even get questioned.
I can top you. We arrived in Orlando in the afternoon, checked into the hotel, and went to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks show. We scoped out a table at the restaurant just before Tomorrowland, figuring we would eat & watch the show. My wife & two younger kids sat down. My son & I went to get the meals. The cashier, who must have been relatively new, punched us up for 2 counter service meals. Not knowing how it worked, I asked & she explained that you got a drink, main course, side dish, and dessert. So, Iorder 5 drinks, 5 meals, some potsitckers, egg rolls, and 5 desserts. She never adjusted to debit for 5 meals. Should have been like $75, and she only charged us for two counter service meals.
Tried that the first day, after we saw it worked we went with the buffet meals most of the time for the wife & I and had or daughter just order a small appitizer that we piad $ for and then we piled it on our plates and let her eat what she wanted.
Wife and I went on our honeymoon and we had the best time being kids during the day, and then romantic at night. It was fantastic. We went right after New years and the parks were perfect. We brought the Mickey and Minnie wedding hats. I told my wife I would only wear it one day, but we got special treatment the entire time. So, I decided to wear them the entire time. We got to start the fireworks on stage at pleasure island. We were the grand marshals in the MGM day parade. We got to ride several rides by ourselves, including splash mountain were we have a picture kissing going down the drop. Complimentary champagne and appitizers at resturants. Going with the entire family ( besides you and the kids) is extremly difficult and not worth doing at all if you don't want to split up for a big portion of the day.
Come on disney, you can't do better than that Skip this again Disney, that's the best you could come up with?? 
Skip it
You can't diss Pirates. Pirates was my sons' favorite ride and is a Disney classic! It was cool going on it with them because I was right around their age when I first went on it. We were in the park late one night when they let the park guests stay late and rode it 2-3 times in a row with no one else around.Stitches Revenge was way cool. Same with A Bug's Life at Animal Kingdom and Soarin' at Epcot. Leave it to Diney to take the sensory experience to a new level.Other "Things I wish I knew.."Pirates is
Wow, it just shows you how different people are. Pirates and the Haunted Mansion are two of my favorite attractions in Walt Disney World. Certainly in my top ten along with Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror, Rock n Rollercoaster, Everest, Test Track and Buzz Lightyear.Other "Things I wish I knew.."Pirates is
Maybe my expectations were to high but I just thought there could have been more. With what they did with Stich and Buzz where you were part of the "ride" I thought they could have more interaction with those two. In Haunted I kept waiting for the Big moment and the only thing that I found semi-cool was the ghost mirror where it looked like a ghost was in the ride with you. Same with Pirates.. I kept waiting for that one WOW moment and it just never hit us.. Like I said, expectations may have been to high for these two after Stich, Buzz and some other rides.
It is the attention to detail that makes Pirates and the Haunted Mansion so great. These attractions actually get better the more you experience them.
I can see that.. guess I was viewing them more through the eyes my daughter and she wasn't impressed at all. Kept looking at me asking "Is that it?"
My favorite is the jungle cruise with the bad jokes.However, The attention to detail is what makes Pirates and the Mansion so great. Did you see the piano in the great hall playing by itself. Then on the floor you see a shadow of the skeleton playing. Does anyone actually know the words to the pirates ride? I think I would rather not know because we have fun trying to figure out what they are trying to say throughout the ride. I go so much that I enjoy the detail....Like trying to find all the hidden Mickeys in the parks.I could see that the first time goers, or less often goers would enjoy the newest attractions the most.I can see that.. guess I was viewing them more through the eyes my daughter and she wasn't impressed at all. Kept looking at me asking "Is that it?"
We're pretty interested in buying into this. How much are the maitenance fees?
snogger?
